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Kravitz: Is Pacers coach Frank Vogel's job safe?

By Bob Kravitz, bob.kravitz@indystar.com
10:32 a.m. EDT April 7, 2014

Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel talks to referee Bill Kennedy (55) during the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Atlanta won 107-88.(Photo: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports)

We know the Indiana Pacers are in trouble, big trouble, BIG trouble, but the question must be asked: Is Frank Vogel in trouble?

That might sound absurd given the job he's done since he took over as an interim coach. The feeling here is, he's this team's long-term coach and should be allowed to correct the many things that have gone wrong with his team the last two months.

But know this: Vogel is not Larry Bird's guy.

Bird was hesitant to fire Jim O'Brien in the first place, and even after Vogel turned the team around and got them to play competitively in the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls, it took a couple of months before Bird was willing to give Vogel the full-time job. If you remember, Bird wanted Vogel to hire a big-time, experienced assistant, specifically Brian Shaw, before giving him the job.

Remember, too, that in mid-March, Bird took a swipe at Vogel during a four-game losing streak, opining that Vogel wasn't hard enough on his team at times. Vogel said the comments didn't bother him; I'm not convinced that's the truth.

Would Bird come down from the front office and take over for the post-season?

Would he put it in the hands of Nate McMillan, the former Seattle head coach who is a Vogel assistant?

Bird didn't put this team together to watch it go into the tank. From the moment the season began, he said, "We're all in'' while saying anything short of the NBA Finals would be a disappointment.

Now he sits in his seat in the corner of Bankers Life Fieldhouse and watches his team implode. They are 3-8 in their last 11 games, and are just 20-18 since the 33-7 start. Right now, this looks like a team that has stopped playing for its head coach and stopped playing for one another, a team that will be hard-pressed to get out of the second round of the NBA playoffs.

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Roy Hibbert watches from the bench as the Pacers trail Atlanta by more than 30 points in the first half. The Hawks trounced the Pacers 107-88. Rob Goebel/The Star

Paul Millsap of the Hawks and Lavoy Allen of the Pacers look for a rebound. The Indiana Pacers hosted the Atlanta Hawks in NBA action Sunday April 6, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Rob Goebel/The Star

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It was interesting, then, that in the midst of the Pacers' humiliating 107-88 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks – winners of eight of their previous 29 games, by the way – Vogel channeled his inner Bird. With the Pacers trailing 17-3 and 6:05 remaining in a brutal first quarter, Vogel benched the entire starting five.

Hallelujah.

"They're not getting it done,'' Vogel said. "They're not getting it done, we have to go to someone else, see if someone else can get it done.''

Vogel then did another un-Vogel-like thing to start the second half: He benched Roy Hibbert. Hallelujah, again. Hibbert was terrible, going 0-for-5 without a single rebound in 9 ½ minutes.

After the game, Vogel spun it by saying that he was thinking about resting Hibbert before the start of Sunday night's game. Then, after watching Hibbert struggle – and watching somebody named Pero Antic light him up from the perimeter – Vogel pulled the plug.

Key word there being spun.

"I considered resting Roy before tonight's game because he looks worn down,'' Vogel said during a short, terse post-game press conference. "He's a 7-2 player that's played every game this year, which is very rare. He looks to me to be worn down. He's giving good effort, but he looks to be to be worn down...I decided to play him, but when he got off to a slow start, I decided to rest him.''

Rest him? Now he's just trying to spare Hibbert's feelings. There's no way Vogel would have rested Hibbert in a game that Pacers absolutely had to win in order to remain in the hunt for the No. 1 seed. No…way.

Here's what Vogel should have said but seems disinclined to say: Hibbert's been awful since the All-Star break, a far cry from the guy who earned an All-Star berth, and he was stinking up the joint again Sunday, so we benched him.

The end.

By most accounts, Hibbert did not take it well. He didn't return from the locker room to the bench for the first few moments of the first half for reasons that remain unclear. Then, as his teammates were trying to cut into the Hawks' lead, Hibbert sat dourly on the bench, completely uninvolved, refusing to look in Vogel's direction. During timeout huddles, he remained on the bench, head in hands.

And after the game, he dressed quickly and left before saying a word to the media.

I asked Vogel if Hibbert would return to the starting lineup Wednesday at Milwaukee.

Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel reacts during the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Atlanta won 107-88.(Photo: Pat Lovell / USA TODAY Sports)

Seems like an odd time of the year to start tanking, doesn't it? Forget rest. This team needs to play through this mess. By resting them, and ceding the No. 1 spot to the Heat, you're giving them a soft place to fall, an excuse for falling short of their stated goal.

Fatigue? That's laughable. They've got one starter with some age on him, David West. Everybody else is young; fatigue should not be an issue, nor should it be an excuse.

The question is then begged: If fatigue is such an issue, why were three and four starters still on the floor in the waning minutes of a 20-plus point game?

"We were trying to win the game,'' Vogel said.

Oh.

They keep saying they've reached rock bottom. And then this happens, and they find a new low point. It just keeps getting worse.

"Let's see what people are saying about us in 3 ½, 4 weeks,'' West said. "…I'm of the opinion that this is good for us. We needed to be humbled. Maybe we'll be better now that we've been backed into a corner.''

Sorry, but not buying.

These are weird and desperate times. Does Bird do anything about it? It's a question worth asking, if nothing else.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or email bob.kravitz@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BKravitz.